SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL
The Salem Lutheran Church Council met December 13, 2006. The board members present were Don Aamodt, Tami Alphs, Scott Helgeson, Sue Smith for Jerry Hoffman, Deb Kingland, Jennifer McGrady, Rick Orban, Bob Peterson, Wanda Playter, Gaye Sletten, Carolyn Swanson, Pastor Weeg and David Kingland, Call Committee Chairman/Staff Management Chairman.
Guests: Bill Georgia, Diane Clark, Sue Steele and Bart Winter from the Board of Worship and Music
Call to Order by Deb Kingland. Devotions were given by Pastor Weeg.

Secretary's Report: Each council member individually read the secretary's report. Motion to accept the minutes was made by Scott Helgeson and seconded by Tami Alphs. All Approved.
Treasurer's Report: Scott Helgeson reported that the General Fund Balance as of November 30, 2006 was $65,480.42.
Financial Secretary's Report: Tami Alphs reported that the General Fund Income for November was $36,413.44, with the total income for November being $51,906.68. Tami also reported that the 2007 offering envelopes will available Sunday morning for people to pick up.
Motion to accept the treasurer's report and the financial secretary's report was made by Jennifer McGrady and seconded by Don Aamodt. All approved.

BOARD REPORTS:
Board of Worship and Music: Carolyn Swanson reported that their board is setting up some new training for ushers and communion servers. Carolyn also reported that their board has started work on their procedure manual.
Board of Stewardship and Social Ministry: Don Aamodt reported they have had 185 pledges turned in for a total pledge amount of $241,000. They have found that the average amount of giving has gone up, but the number of pledge cards returned is down from last year. They are hoping they will see more pledge cards come in before the end of the year. One thing they noticed is that the mailing lists need to be updated, so there is work being done on that.
Board of Education: Bob Peterson reported the 3rd grade Bibles were handed out last Sunday. SON Shine Preschool sang last Sunday at the 8:30 a.m. service. That was very well attended. Bob also reported the Sunday School Christmas Program will be held on Sunday, December 17, 2:00 p.m. The offering collected at this program will be given to the Pediatric wing at Mercy Hospital in Mason City.
Board of Youth: Wanda Playter reported that the pizza lunches are going well. Katie has planned a movie night on Friday, December 15th with devotions. The first showing will be for the Middle School and the second showing for the High School. They are planning on going to Nativity, the movie, sometime during Christmas break. There is some planning being done for an ice skating party in January. Katie is also working on setting up an acolyte schedule for the youth.
Board of Life and Growth: Jennifer McGrady reported during their meeting they went through a re-cap of the year. They will also be looking at the delivering of envelopes later in the year if they are not picked up at the church.
Board of Property and Management: Sue Smith reported in Jerry Hoffman's absence. The stained glass windows are out and they are hoping to have them back in January. There are just a few details left on the boiler repair. On the bell tower, they have only gotten one engineering firm to even agree to make a bid on the project. The estimate from them on the engineering structural investigation, report and design is $9,250. They will wait to see if they get more bids. The entry light timers are getting looked at. They are working on the snow removal issue. They are also working on changes to the custodial job description. They are replacing all of the faucets in the bathrooms in the Sunday School wing.
Call Committee Report: David Kingland reported that the Call Committee has compiled the profile and job description for an Associate Pastor. They will share that information with the congregation in an upcoming bulletin. They figure it will be 6 - 9 months to go through the interview process.
Pastor's Report: Pastor Weeg reported that Pastor Norris continues to do visitations at the Care Center, Mills Harbour and with shut-ins. The total hours for November were 59. Pastor Norris is taking the month of December off.
Nominating Committee Report: Tami Alphs reported that they have filled all the board vacancies. These new board members will be voted on at the Annual Meeting in January. Once approved, these new members will start at the February board meetings. Board chairman should get in touch with these new members to let them know when you meet and other information they may need. Motion was made by Bob Peterson and seconded by Scott Helgeson to accept these reports. All approved.

OLD BUSINESS:
Deb Kingland reminded all boards that they should be taking minutes at each of their meetings and turn those in to be shared with the council to ensure better communication in the church.

NEW BUSINESS:
A motion was made by Tami Alphs and seconded by Don Aamodt to approve the payment of mission work money. The money will be paid out the same as it was specified previously, but next year we want to do more research into possible missions we could support. All approved.

Deb Kingland reminded all boards to turn in their annual reports to Helen by January 8, 2007 and also to have their procedural manuals ready for the January Council meeting, along with the minutes of their December meeting.

There was discussion held by the council that we really should change the annual church meeting from January. It was stated that it does not seem right to have the meeting in late January to approve a budget for the year you are already three weeks into. A motion was made by Tami Alphs to move the Annual Church meeting to the 3rd Sunday in November. There was a second by Jennifer McGrady and all approved.

David Kingland, on behalf of the Staff Management Team, handed out a new proposed staffing model. This then tied in very closely with the 2007 budget that Scott Helgeson passed out. David started out the conversation with a recap of where we have been and a chart of attendance. This pointed out that there is definitely a 20 year trend of declining attendance at church. There was then lengthy discussion with the Council and with members of the Board of Worship and Music on this new staffing model and the need for a change. A motion was made by Tami Alphs and seconded by Rick Orban, to accept the new staffing model. Motion was carried. More discussion was held on the 2007 budget. One correction was made on the Youth Board Work line item. Motion was made by Scott Helgeson and seconded by Tami Alphs to approve the proposed 2007 budget with the corrections on the Youth Board Work line item. The motion was carried.

A motion was made by Scott Helgeson and seconded by Jennifer McGrady to accept Janet Vinson as a new member of Salem.

Transfers away: Ron Charlson

Motion to adjourn was made by Scott Helgeson and seconded by Carolyn Swanson. All approved.

Next meeting will be Wednesday, January 10 at 8:00 p.m. Meeting was closed with the Lord's Prayer.

Gaye Sletten, Recording Secretary